And now for a considerably more obscure poem, which wasn’t published until long after the poet’s death. But it’s about a train crash, so I was intrigued by it. Not the Borki Train Disaster shown in the photo, but an unknown one sometime in 1932.
Unsurprisingly, Soviet railroad safety wasn’t so hot in those days. According to the Russian Wikipedia on railroad accidents, there were 43,015 train crashes and accidents in 1931, and 61,142 in 1934. The story goes that the poet, on holiday in Sochi with his wife, was supposed to take the train back to Moscow ahead of her, but found it so unbearable to leave her that he decided to delay his departure by a few days. Not until his return to the capital did he learn that the train he was originally supposed to take had crashed, and his friends had taken him for dead. The poem muses on what would have happened if he had taken the train.
This extended history of the poem suggests that perhaps the crash was the one that took place on October 16, 1932, at Moscow’s Lyublino station. The cause of the crash is not stated, but it was probably a collision. As a result of a new draconian policy following a fatal 1930 crash on the same line, the station superintendent was shot as punishment. However, the account itself names a different nearby station, and the poem describes a derailment rather than a collision, so I think it’s best to simply leave it as a mystery.
The poem was only published in 1966, 13 years after the poet’s death. It appears according to the preceding link that it had passed by word of mouth in the days of the war, until heard by the eventual publisher. But it was not until ten years after that, in 1976, that it would truly become famous. It was featured in the classic New Year’s Eve comedy Irony of Fate, whose viewing became an annual ritual in the Soviet Union on par with It’s a Wonderful Life or love actually in the U.S. Here is the clip where they recite the poem shortly after the protagonists part for good (or at least so the viewer thinks at the time). The poem starts at 1:58:
So here’s my translation, better than those subtitles. It mostly rhymes correctly, and most of the lines have the right number of syllables. All-in-all, not completely a train wreck.
| 1 | — Как больно, милая, как странно, | -My dear, how strange, how full of hurt, | |
| 2 | Сроднясь в земле, сплетясь ветвями, — | Our roots and branches joined by years, | |
| 3 | Как больно, милая, как странно | My dear, how strange, how full of hurt, | |
| 4 | Раздваиваться под пилой. | The saw that splits me from my twin, | |
| 5 | Не зарастёт на сердце рана, | The wound will not heal in my heart, | |
| 6 | Прольётся чистыми слезами, | It will spill forth in purest tears, | |
| 7 | Не зарастёт на сердце рана — | The wound will not heal in my heart, | |
| 8 | Прольётся пламенной смолой. | It will spill forth in flaming resin. | |
| 9 | — Пока жива, с тобой я буду — | -Long as I live, I’ll be with you – | |
| 10 | Душа и кровь нераздвоимы, — | The soul and blood can’t be divided, – | |
| 11 | Пока жива, с тобой я буду — | Long as I live, I’ll be with you, | |
| 12 | Любовь и смерть всегда вдвоём. | Love always side by side with death, | |
| 13 | Ты понесёшь с собой повсюду — | You’ll bring it with you through and through – | |
| 14 | Ты понесёшь с собой, любимый, — | You’ll bring it with you, my beloved,– | |
| 15 | Ты понесёшь с собой повсюду | You’ll bring it with you through and through | |
| 16 | Родную землю, милый дом. | Familiar land, sweet home and hearth. | |
| 17 | — Но если мне укрыться нечем | -But if there is no place to shelter | |
| 18 | От жалости неисцелимой, | From the intolerable longing, | |
| 19 | Но если мне укрыться нечем | But if there is no place to shelter | |
| 20 | От холода и темноты? | Under the cold and the night sky? | |
| 21 | — За расставаньем будет встреча, | -Each parting brings a new encounter, | |
| 22 | Не забывай меня, любимый, | Always remember me, my darling, | |
| 23 | За расставаньем будет встреча, | Each parting bring a new encounter, | |
| 24 | Вернёмся оба — я и ты. | We’ll both return, both you and I. | |
| 25 | — Но если я безвестно кану — | -And if, unknown, I plummet through – | |
| 26 | Короткий свет луча дневного, — | The brief light of a daytime ray, – | |
| 27 | Но если я безвестно кану | And if, unknown, I plummet through | |
| 28 | За звёздный пояс, в млечный дым? | The milky smoke, the girdle starred? | |
| 29 | — Я за тебя молиться стану, | -Then I’ll begin to pray for you, | |
| 30 | Чтоб не забыл пути земного, | Not to forget the earthly way, | |
| 31 | Я за тебя молиться стану, | Then I’ll begin to pray for you, | |
| 32 | Чтоб ты вернулся невредим. | That you will be brought back unmarred. | |
| 33 | Трясясь в прокуренном вагоне, | And shaking in a smoke-filled train coach | |
| 34 | Он стал бездомным и смиренным, | He became homeless and docile | |
| 35 | Трясясь в прокуренном вагоне, | And shaking in a smoke-filled train coach | |
| 36 | Он полуплакал, полуспал, | He was half-crying, half-asleep, | |
| 37 | Когда состав на скользком склоне | When going up a steep approach, | |
| 38 | Вдруг изогнулся страшным креном, | The train tipped at a frightful angle, | |
| 39 | Когда состав на скользком склоне | When going up a steep approach, | |
| 40 | От рельс колёса оторвал. | The train wheels from the rails did slip. | |
| 41 | Нечеловеческая сила, | A power totally inhuman | |
| 42 | В одной давильне всех калеча, | In one great squeeze did all its beating, | |
| 43 | Нечеловеческая сила | A power totally inhuman | |
| 44 | Земное сбросила с земли. | It threw the earthly from the Earth. | |
| 45 | И никого не защитила | And alas, it protected noone, | |
| 46 | Вдали обещанная встреча, | The future distant promised meeting, | |
| 47 | И никого не защитила | And alas, it protected noone, | |
| 48 | Рука, зовущая вдали. | The hand that, distant, beckoned forth. | |
| 49 | С любимыми не расставайтесь, | Do not part from your loved ones ever, | |
| 50 | С любимыми не расставайтесь, | Do not part from your loved ones ever, | |
| 51 | С любимыми не расставайтесь, | Do not part from your loved ones ever, | |
| 52 | Всей кровью прорастайте в них! — | Let your blood grow through all the way! | |
| 53 | И каждый раз навек прощайтесь, | And each time say goodbye forever, | |
| 54 | И каждый раз навек прощайтесь, | And each time say goodbye forever, | |
| 55 | И каждый раз навек прощайтесь, | And each time say goodbye forever, | |
| 56 | Когда уходите на миг! | When leaving them for just a day! |